Heart of the Universe
by Shockwave
Summary: Mariemeia is not the only remnant of OZ...... Shonen Ai.....for now
1. Prologue

Here's the deal

Here's the deal. I don't own these characters, never will. All the words contained in here are the product of my weird daydreams induced by way too much anime and greek. Please don't sue me, I don't even have 20 bucks to my name. I am a poor underfed college student. Please have pity on me.

Chapter 1

Quatre sighed as he watched the bright colors of the circus' opening act. Trowa's lions parading around docilely were having quite an effect on the audience. In spite of having seen Trowa's ability with animals demonstrated countless times before, Quatre oohed and aahed just as enthusiastically as the crowd. The act had gotten even more elaborate since the last show that Quatre had seen. Not only were the beasts doing acrobatics, but Trowa was as well. Quatre's heart skipped a beat as Trowa did his finale. How did Trowa manage to balance so precisely on the lion's back for so long? Trowa exited the ring to wild applause from the audience. Quatre clapped so hard he startled the family sitting in front of him. Quatre blushed and calmed down. He hunted in his pocket, finally coming up with the program he had been given at the entrance. Scanning the program for Trowa's next act, he was dismayed to see that Trowa wouldn't be on again until just after intermission. {That's so long from now} Quatre thought as he looked again to be sure. Sighing, Quatre resigned himself to fidgeting impatiently till intermission. He could hardly wait until intermission. It had taken him months to get up the courage and plan what he wanted to say to Trowa, but he was finally ready to confess his love to the mysterious green-eyed pilot. His mind was so busy rehearsing his speech that he totally missed the acts that followed Trowa's performance. It wasn't until a familiar face appeared that Quatre was startled out of his reverie. He did a double take as he suddenly recognized the young man with black hair who was doing a set of Chinese balancing tricks with a familiar Katana. {Wufei?!?} Quatre was so startled that he nearly fell off of his chair. Wufei was the last person he expected to see tonight. He hadn't seen Wufei for months following the Mariemeia coup and he had lost track of the dusky Chinese boy. Quatre had assumed that Wufei was rebuilding his clan like he had always talked of, deep in his cups during the war. A more inappropriate job for the former pilot of Shenlong was inconceivable. His plans for Trowa were temporarily forgotten as he goggled at the sight of Wufei balancing a full cup of tea on his nose while doing an intricate dance with his sword. Quatre remained in a state of slight shock as the audience applauded the impressive act. He then shook himself all over. Quatre rushed to the edge of the ring as soon as the lights came up. He knew that Trowa would be coming to double-check the facilities before bringing the beasts in for the second half. His heart beat faster at the thought of his approaching meeting with the love of his life. He mentally gave his speech a final dress rehearsal while keeping an eagle eye on the ring. He was halfway through his speech, when the curtain parted to admit a serious looking brown-haired man whose bangs constantly obscured one eye. Quatre's heart leapt at the alluring sight. Trowa made even a clown's costume look elegant. He took a deep steadying breath and was about to step out of the shadows to greet his love when the curtain twitched again and Wufei stepped in. Quatre's mouth opened and closed like a fish as he watched Trowa look up at the intruder and……… SMILE? Then Quatre felt his world fade to black as he saw his beloved Trowa passionately kiss Wufei.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

A fiery comet streaked across the sky. Heero and Duo came up for air from their passionate embrace just in time to see the flash.

"Make a wish Heero," Duo said huskily.

"Hn," was all Heero said before recapturing Duo's lips in a fierce kiss. Duo's eyes glazed over as he responded in kind.

{A wish huh…} Quatre thought as he paused in his path to the happy couple sitting on the roof. He had been sent to discover where the two Preventers had disappeared to three hours ago. A Class A emergency had turned critical and all of the Preventers on active duty had been called in to attempt to deal with it. Currently, he, Wufei and Trowa were supposed to be looking for the pair to inform them of the sudden crisis. {But that can wait for a minute. It's so rare for any of us to get a free moment lately. This moment to kiss under a shooting star is more important than anything Une could come up with}. Quatre took a step back to leave Heero and Duo a few more moments of uninterrupted peace.

{Kissing under the stars….} Quatre's heart clenched as his traitorous thoughts immediately filled in who he would like to be kissing under the stars. For a moments, the stars twinkled even brighter as tears burned at his eyes. Even now, 3 years after accidentally finding out about Wufei and Trowa's relationship on his way to confess his love to Trowa, he still couldn't deal with the heartache. No one suspected, but he still loved the European pilot with all the force in his body. Trowa didn't even suspect, but Quatre's heart still bled every time he saw the two pilots even in the same room together. All he saw was the mask that Quatre had taken to wearing. Mr. Winner, so caring and conscientous, always polite and helpful, was quite a role, but Quatre played it to the hilt as it allowed him what little dignity he had while he failed to cope. He knew that he could never make his feeling known now that it was too late and it still tore him up inside.

Quatre shivered as a cold breeze blew across his wet face. Almost like…. a machine? He shook himself and dashed the tears from his eyes. Now was not the time to be breaking down. If they were recalling all of the Preventers, then there was a serious threat to the still fragile peace, and his own turmoil could not be allowed to interfere. He carefully reapplied his mask and took himself across the roof to spread the bad news.


	3. Chapter 2

Hi

Hi! It was sooo nice to get reviews! Please keep em coming. I'll try to please! 

BTW {} indicates thoughts

Chapter 3

" ….. And that's what we know so far of the rebellion," Noin's tired voice came across the vidlink.

"Thank you, Noin" Lady Une replied, mind already fast at work on a strategy to deal with this new threat that sought to destroy the fragile peace that was the result of the Eve wars. Her heart ached, as she knew this threat to be bad enough to need all five of the Gundam Pilots if it were to be settled peacefully. The boys had already suffered so much, but she would do anything to protect Trieze's dream of peace. Anything at all.

She was distracted from her strategic planning by the entry of the five pilots. One by one, all five pilots had ended up working with the Preventers on at least a part time basis. Even Quatre Raberba Winner, whose family business was more than enough work for one man, had enlisted on a case-by-case basis with the Preventers. She waved at all the boys to enter and took a moment to contemplate the pilots. 

The 5 years that had passed since the truce was declared had been kind to all of them. Heero Yuy had gotten a lot more bulk, all of it muscle. This was distributed evenly across his now 5'10" frame, which, while not short, tied him for the shortest of the pilots. The most radical change in Heero Yuy was in the face. Gone was the frozen, emotionless face with its glare of doom and perdition. In it's place, a slightly stiff, but mobile face was hesitantly trying out emotions.

Une next considered the reason for these startling changes in Yuy. Duo Maxwell had also filled out during the years after the war. He was still very slender, a throwback to his childhood years and the starvation that had accompanied it. But the now 6ft tall American had a very commanding presence due to his energetic and engaging demeanor. Heero Yuy had been good for Duo Maxwell too, as the berserker attitude that had once accompanied the grins and jokes was now history. She smiled inwardly as she noted that they were holding hands as they came in and immediately took the two chairs that were closest together.

She then turned her eyes to Pilot 05. Chang Wufei sat in the chair closest to the desk with military precision. His 5'10" body was all angles and chiseled muscle. His hair was still in its confining ponytail, but it had grown considerably in length since his piloting days. And the intense periods of brooding and guilt were gone, leaving a confident, self-assured young man. 

His lover, Trowa, declined to take a seat, but leaned against the wall behind Wufei. At 6'5", Trowa was still the tallest of the Pilots. He was also the most unchanged, his body remaining that of a lanky gymnast. Even his hair remained the same, the chestnut waterfall that obscured one eye or the other as Trowa moved his head. 

Une noticed the protective and possessive position that Trowa had taken with a raised eyebrow. That pairing had come as a shock and with no warning. Wufei had joined Preventers two months before Trowa enlisted. After taking care of 03's enlistment paperwork, Une had moved to assign Trowa to a room in the barracks, but he'd merely stopped her hand and said that he would sleep with Wufei as usual. When she had protested that the room Wufei was assigned to had only one bed in it, he'd replied, "I know," and left her office, leaving her door and her mouth hanging wide open. Since then, there had been little signs from time to time that the two were still a couple, but they weren't anywhere near as obvious as Heero and Duo were.

Une then noticed someone else looking at the odd couple (sorry for the pun  
). Quatre Winner was the most changed out of all of the pilots. He had gone from a blond waif to a golden giant. Not only had he shot up more than a foot, he had also put on a lot of bulk, to the point where he was probably the most muscular of all of the pilots. Knowing how much paperwork and meetings the head of the Winner Corporation had to attend to, Une was at a loss to explain 04's physique. He remained pale and clean-shaven, but for that he could have been mistaken for the leader of the Maguanacs, Rashid. 

The other thing that had changed with the blond pilot were his eyes. They were still a brilliant aquamarine that could discern the depths of your soul, but they revealed nothing of the heart of the pilot who possessed them. It had not always been so, Une mused. Something after the wars had changed the pilot. But whatever had affected the Arabian, he had never mentioned it or allowed any kind of questioning on the subject. He would politely maneuver the conversation when asked until at last everyone gave up trying to find out. But such an emptiness, where before the pilot had shown a beautiful and trusting heart was disturbing to say the very least.

Une took one last considering look at the five young men before her and again her heart ached at the thought of having to send them out to once again save the colonies. But then she firmed herself and opened her mouth to speak.


	4. Chapter 3

Hi's

Hi's. Just a quick note on the slight Au I'm writing in. Not much is changed. The war went as it went in the show and EW happened. However, the gundams were not destroyed at the end of the coup. Instead they were remodeled and turned over to Preventers for safekeeping. So yes, the gundams will pop up later in my story. That's all! Have fun!

Chapter 3

"We have a situation. As we speak, 500 mobile doll carriers with 100 mobile dolls each are approaching the L5 legrange point. I'll give you more details on them later on, after the briefing. The faction sending these ships is the black sun. Its bases of operations are scientific outposts in the belt. Originally, Romafeller created the outposts during the Alliance. They were created as places to do top-secret research that was either highly illegal or highly dangerous, with the idea that of the projects got out of hand, the bases could be blown with little or no effect on or damage to a particular person's political standing. These researches included mobile doll control, new metals, better bombs, information gathering from unwilling people, computer hacking, and human genetics, especially bioengineering and viral warfare…"

"Viral warfare?!!" Duo's angry voice interrupted the grim briefing "As in killing people through plagues?"

"Yes, Duo" Une replied. "We don't know if the L2 plague was intentional or not, but it definitely originated in a lab in the belt.

"God Damn!" Duo started swearing a blue streak and all of the pilots looked mad. They were all familiar with Duo's history and all agreed with his sentiments. The cursing continued for a while, the Heero went to Duo, who by this time was pacing around the room, and put his hand on his arm. Duo stopped his diatribe, startled, and Heero interjected into the sudden silence "Why weren't we informed of this before?"

Lady Une sighed. "We've been clearing the belt slowly, arresting those who deserved it, freeing those scientists who were under coercion. After removing the people from the stations, we've been detonating the unsafe ones and dismantling the others. The parts have been used to rebuild those colonies that were destroyed during the war. As the operations were proceeding smoothly, we haven't needed to call you in. But sometime during the last month, five of the largest remaining stations managed to get through the communications blackout and form an alliance. And this alliance has sent 5,000 mobile dolls to the colonies."

"Then we should get moving if we're going to stop those dolls with our Gundams," said Wufei.

"Yes, but there's unfortunately more that you need to know about this mission. The five scientists in charge of the black sun were on our list of people to arrest and throw away the key. The first, Akron, is a mecha builder. All of the Oz suits were his work, and before you disparage it, they were greatly altered in order to be cheaply mass produced by idiots who don't know the first thing about mobile suit production. The original prototypes that I saw were a lot more deadly than the ones you routinely fought. It was always a sore point with Akron and the leaders of Romafeller. And he has had five years to improve his designs."

"The second scientist, , is a metallurgist. His last assigned project was to find a metal that would allow beam energy to pass through it unharmed. If this were to happen, only direct contact from bullets, Trowa's knife, or Quatre's scimitars would be able to destroy them."

"The third scientist,, was the one who created the Epyon system. He's a genius and could hack through anything electronic with a computer made from tape and paper clips. It's a sure bet that these suits have a much updated command unit, which will behave in unpredictable ways in battle."

"The fourth, Creegan, was the scientist who most likely created the L2 plague."

Duo's hackles again came up at the very mention of this man and a fierce determination could be seen shining in his eyes.

"Not much is known about the last one, Nero. We don't even know what Nero, was working on except for the fact that it involved human experimentation."

"Sheeeit," was Duo's comment. All of the pilots looked mightily disturbed by the list of talents running the opposition.

"And that's not the worst of it," Une continued, her voice going hoarse from all the talking and tension. "The information on the fleet of mobile dolls came far to easily. We know for a fact that was working to duplicate 02's stealth measures and improve them. So it the fleet was the main point of the attack, we shouldn't know they were coming."

This time it was Wufei who started swearing. It sounded like he was halfway to a full-blown justice rant when again a lover intervened. After calming his love, Trowa asked Une "If these scientist were so dangerous, why weren't they dealt with first?"

Here a rare sight presented itself to the Gundam boys as Lady Une began to squirm in her chair. "We knew from the start that it was going to be difficult to bring these five in. The plan was to reduce the number of possible allies these kingpins would have by reducing the other scientific bases. Then we would go after the hard core. Unfortunately, this appears to have backfired as we have also removed all the competition and people who were keeping an eye on the actual space these people were working in. At any rate, they've played us rightly and we don't have any choice but to follow the rules of their game. I've sent most of the forces and Preventers staff to do with the mobile dolls and ships. What I want you five to do is to return to your legrange points and act as a last line of defense. We have no idea how or what these dolls are going to do. I know you would rather be at the front line destroying the dolls, but it's at this last line that the colonies need your reflexes. Zech's is protecting the moon and Earth won't fall to a single mobile doll, but all it takes is one doll and a colony could die…….. or worse……… Do I have your agreement?"

"Hell Yah!"

"Nimnu Ryoukai"

"Agreed"

"…..Yes….."

All five pairs of eyes turned to look at the one person who hadn't spoken during the entire briefing. Quatre Rebarba Winner closed his eyes and held them that way for a moment before opening them and saying, "Yes."


End file.
